U.S. Officials Issue Warning To Users of Diet Supplement

AP

Published: November 14, 1989

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 13—
Federal investigators have learned of 24 more cases of a rare blood disease, leading the Government to warn consumers to stop taking a dietary supplement suspected of causing the outbreak.

The Food and Drug Administration has sent investigators to New Mexico to interview people with the disorder and to collect samples of the supplement, L-tryptophan, said Nancy Hunter, a spokeswoman for the State Health and Environment Department. Health officials in New Mexico had already asked retailers to stop selling L-tryptophan during the investigation.

The investigators, who finished their interviews on Sunday, plan to test the nonprescription remedy for contamination.

The F.D.A. said the investigation had not established a causal link between the blood condition and the dietary supplement, but most of the people reported they took L-tryptophan products before becoming ill.

Over the weekend, California, Virginia and Minnesota joined New Mexico and five other states reporting cases of eosinophilia, a potentially fatal disorder, said Dr. Edwin Kilbourne of the Federal Centers for Disease Control. New Mexico had already reported 21 cases, Oregon reported 4, Texas 3 and Arizona, Missouri and Mississippi one each.

At least 11 people have been hospitalized with the disorder, including 9 in New Mexico.

Symptoms of eosinophilia include muscular pain, fatigue, fever and rashes. The syndrome is usually associated with asthma, allergies, parasitic infections or reactions to medicine. It is characterized by high counts of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell.

L-tryptophan, an amino acid, is sold in health food stores to treat sleeplessness and premenstrual syndrome. Makers of L-tryptophan said they do not believe their product is to blame, but they said disreputable companies may have produced contaminated batches.

Annette Dickinson, a technical counselor of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association of food supplement manufacturers, said most L-tryptophan is made by large manufacturers, including many pharmaceutical companies.

Sixteen people died in the United States in 1986 as a result of hypereosinophilic syndrome, a form of eosinophilia, and 12 died in 1987, said Sandy Smith of the National Center for Health Statistics.